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Amongst some of Toronto’s finest young artists I participated in the OOG group show with an image from The Goddess Array series entitled “Athena Stands.” Athena is the Goddess of Civilization. The show is up until Feb. 9th if you want to take a look, but I’m pleased to report “Athena Stands” is already sold. Here’s a Homeric quote to shine a little light on who Athena was and what she stood for:

“I begin to sing of Pallas Athena, the glorious goddess, bright-eyed, inventive, unbending of heart, pure virgin, saviour of cities, courageous, Tritogeneia. From his awful head wise Zeus himself bare her arrayed in warlike arms of flashing gold, and awe seized all the gods as they gazed. But Athena sprang quickly from the immortal head and stood before Zeus who holds the aegis, shaking a sharp spear: great Olympos began to reel horribly at the might of the grey-eyed goddess, and earth round about cried fearfully, and the sea was moved and tossed with dark waves, while foam burst forth suddenly: the bright Son of Hyperion [Helios the Sun] stopped his swift-footed horses a long while, until the maiden Pallas Athena had stripped the heavenly armour from her immortal shoulders. And wise Zeus was glad. Hail to you, daughter of Zeus who holds the aigis!”

“Here at The Motherland Co. we aim to raise awareness about women’swellness through different workshops and creative projects. We believe in healing through transparency. The more we can be honest with ourselves about what we are feeling, the more we can be open with others, and the more we speak about things the more opportunities for safe spaces can be created. The more that emotions will be normalized and not criticized. We want to heal the collective womb and help bring healthy children into the world and help our sisters stay connected to their feminine and masculine energies to raise spiritually balanced children. We want to grow with you, We want to share with you, We want to learn with you. That is what Collective means to us.” – Demi

The Motherland Collective’s first project is entitled Ain’t No Hood Like Motherhood (ANHLM). The project features revealing, honest interviews with moms on motherhood accompanied by candid photos of the participant at home with their kid(s) in an effort to break the silence around the issues that come with motherhood and create an online space where moms can share their truths. I shot a little call to action video of Demi for the project below:

You can participate in the project and share your truth HERE. Demi’s full interview is below. It is raw, real, and moving as all hell. Of you have a spare 20 minutes please take a look. It has been an honor shooting photo/video, and consulting on such an important project. xo

Cricket is an 18-year-old beauty Queen from a small town outside of Ottawa. Her first experience with pageantry was the heartfelt, charity-oriented, supportive experience of a hometown pageant which she won. This brought her to compete in the Top Model of Canada pageant which she then won. After winning, the first thing said to her from the judges was “You better lose a bunch of weight if you want to get an agent.” Cricket quickly became disenchanted with the modelling industry. On her way to Egypt to compete in the Top Model of the World pageant she stopped by my studio to shave her head and do a photoshoot/interview for Herself.com via Caitlin Stasey. Cricket’s plan was to wear a wig to all her fittings leading up to the pageant so not to be disqualified and although nervous, managed to get through the lead up without incident. Cricket revealed her shaved head at the Top Model of the World and needless-to-say, she didn’t win. Her interview and photos were published on Herself.com to hopefully inspire women to love themselves as they are. I shot this video throughout the head shaving process which became a rebellious ritual of sorts. Cricket wrote the accompanying poem to give voice to her actions. I found it to be raw and of a high quality. I hope you enjoy it too. xo

The Camisado Vintage 2017 lifestyle campaign was shot over 3 days in Ibiza with our awesome team of models Mario, Elisabetha, Beilla & that cute random passerby in the Nike tank from Moldova who spoke no English but agreed to skip rope for us and let us take his photo. Shout outs to you, wherever you are. 🙂 Camisado is run by two rad babes from Toronto, Staysail and Kristen. They open the Costa Rica location through the winter and the Ibiza location through the summer. Check them out in person if you’re lucky enough to be in either fabulous locale or online for all your vintage needs:

This Woman I Know is a series by Jessica Laforet that features self-identified women who show support, act as allies and empower other women. I am honored to have been featured. Here’s what they had to say:

THIS WOMAN I KNOW, her name is Jennifer. She is a photographer, a storyteller, a dreamer, a fighter, a hustler, a feminist, a friend, a lover and a hard working, relentless, passionate, unbridled woman

Jennifer’s focus in the creation of her personal photographic works is the search for ways to work at alleviating the epidemic of low self-esteem afflicting the contemporary woman. She first started with “The Esteem Project” which featured a series of female nudes photographed without artifice – no colour, no makeup, no clothes, no photoshop in natural light. Her aim was to provide a mirror to the arresting, glorious, totally natural beauty of each subject. Evolving along the same vein, Jennifer launched Herself.com with actress Caitlin Stacey in January 2015. Herself.com offers raw portraits of women in both body and mind, laid bare in all their honesty in an effort at reclaiming female agency in a world of media constantly filtered through a male gaze. Earlier this year Jennifer began work on The Goddess Array, a photographic series depicting contemporary versions of ancient Greek goddesses. Printed 8ft tall all 30 goddesses will be shown together creating a space of goddess worship where guests will pay witness, looking up to these large, iconic, strong, female archetypes.

Jennifer believes that the world needs to be littered with images of free, happy, healthy, fearless women standing their ground. The goddesses are her current contribution to this necessary landscape. Anyone interested in posing for the project is welcome to email her at jennifertoole@jennifertoole.com

The Nike, Goddess of Victory limited-edition, dye-sublimated tee is still available in sizes small through extra large. We have about 15 left. They make a lucky holiday gift. You can buy yours on www.jennifertoole.com or in store at Q. Rockford Visual Healing Arts, 222 Spadina Ave. 2nd floor. xo